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Memorials

Machshavot HaRav: Reflections from Rabbi Waxman

 

A Second Queen Esther

 

Once upon a time, in a far-off kingdom called Poland, there ruled a king by the name of Casimir III. His grandfather, Boleslav the Just, had promulgated a charter of privileges that guaranteed Jews economic rights, as well as protected their property, including synagogues, and their very lives. Jews lived in peace in that fabled land and indeed, as persecutions increased in the west, more of them migrated to this land in the east.

 

As for Casimir, he confirmed his grandfather’s privileges and encouraged the immigration of Jews from German land, because he believed it would benefit Poland’s economy. (During his reign, there was a sharp increase in the Jewish population, with the creation of new Jewish communities including in Krakow, Lvov, Posen and Lublin.) Under penalty of death, the king forbade the kidnapping of Jewish children to baptize them and punished anyone who desecrated a Jewish cemetery. And perhaps most significantly, when Jews were accused of murdering a Polish child, the king initiated a public investigation and when it concluded it declared the Jews innocent. Moreover, the king issued an edict refuting the blood libel. And a year later, when Jews were accused of poisoning the wells, amid the Black Plague, he, again, came to their rescue.

 

All this is historical fact. Now we enter the arena of historical mystery or perhaps Purim spiel. In the 15th century, approximately a century after the reign of King Casimir, a Polish chronicler, Jan Dlugosz, mentioned the story of Queen Esterke, a Jewish wife of King Casimir III. Another century would pass before she appeared in Jewish literature. Rabbi David Gans of Prague, wrote the following about Queen Esterke: “Casimir, the king of Poland, took for himself a concubine—a young Jewess named Esther. Of all the maidens of the land, none compared to her beauty. She was his wife for many years. For her sake, the king extended many privileges to the Jews of his kingdom. She persuaded the king to issue documents of freedom and beneficence.”

 

There are sites associated with Esterke. For example, in the Jewish quarter of Kazimir, now part of Krakow, there stood a huge tree, under which Casimir supposedly entertained his Jewish queen. In Kazimir there was a hand-stitched parochet, ark curtain, which hung in the synagogue that the king had constructed so Esterke could pray there. The parochet was reputedly crafted by the queen herself: it survived many wars and fires, including one that destroyed the synagogue some 300 years ago. Castles in Lubozow and Bochotnica are associated with Esterke. The Lublin Jewish community claimed that the queen was buried in their old cemetery. And to add support they would cite the work of a 19th century non-Jewish writer Klems Junosza who claimed he found a one-word tombstone there inscribed with the name Esther.

 

A century ago, there were two tour guides in Krakow who regaled visitors with stories about the Jewish queen. According to one, the king imported Spanish goldsmiths to fashion gold thread for the parochet, whereas a second guide assured visitors that the queen fed her non-Jewish husband gefilte fish and cholent.

 

Is the story of Queen Esterke a Polish version of the Purim story, complete with a queen whose name was identical to the heroine of Purim? The late Cohen Shmeruk, a foremost expert on Yiddish literature and folklore, concluded that she did exist. He pointed to the fact that the stories of the Queen existed not only in Yiddish and Hebrew literature, but also in Polish literature. He posited that since the stories exist in two different literatures, which aren’t related to each other, this was indicative of their veracity.

 

How much of this story is legendary? Is there a kernel of truth: was there indeed a Polish Queen Esther who ensured the safety of her fellow Jews? Certainly, a pleasant story to carry us into spring and the celebration of Purim a week from this Saturday night.

 

Shabbat shalom.

Here is the link for our Friday evening service at 8 p.m.:

https://us02web.zoom.us/j/83736031460

Meeting ID: 837 3603 1460

Saturday morning in the sanctuary at 10 a.m.

2 Additional notes: First, next Saturday night, March 23rd, is Purim. Join us in costume in the rabbinage at 8 pm to celebrate. And Second: 3 weeks from Sunday, April 7th, Stony Brook Hillel will once again be hosting its annual Jewish University for a Day. Sign up by going to Stony Brook Hillel’s website.

 

 

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Payrush LaParshahah: A Comment on the Weekly Torah Portion

 

The portion of P’kuday (Exodus 38:21-39:21) is read this Saturday, March 16th. It is the final portion of The Book of Exodus.

 

39:1 Of the blue, purple, and crimson yarns they also made the service vestments for officiating in the sanctuary; they made Aaron’s sacral vestments—as the Lord had commanded Moses… (6) They bordered [made] the lazuli stones with frames of old, engraved with seal engravings of the names of the sons of Israel. (7) They were set on the shoulder pieces of the ephod, as stones of remembrance for the Israelites—as the Lord had commanded Moses.

 

39:1 They made Aaron’s sacral vestments, etc. … (6) and they made the lazuli stones etc.

 

The commentators noticed that the order of Scripture in these two portions [this and the previous portion of] Vahyakhyal in which it is describes the building of the Tabernacle and of its utensils, but afterwards there is a break in this portion of P’kuday, in which comes an accounting of the silver, gold, and copper that was required for the work and [only] afterwards does it mention the priestly vestments. Why is there a gap between the construction of the Tabernacle and the making of the priestly vestments here in the portion of P’kuday?

 

…Rabbi Natan [a rabbi in the Talmud] said why did the princes in the beginning donate towards the dedication of the altar, but as regards the work of the Tabernacle they initially did not donate. Rather the princes said let the public donate what they will donate and what is lacking we will add to it [to fully cover the cost]. However, because the public gave all that was necessary, [as the Text says] “it was sufficient” the princes said, what can we do? They brought the lazuli stones and the other stones.

 

The princess didn’t bring their gifts until it was known what the quantity of the gifts that the public had brought for the building of the holy work. For then they saw and enumerated what was there; if it would be sufficient for the work or if there was a deficit which they would fill. And the [contributions] to the work were sufficient for the Tabernacles and its utensils. And immediately the workmen became engaged in their work. But there was still missing the lazuli stones and the stones of breastplate for the priestly clothes. Hence, they didn’t begin the work of the creation of the priestly garments until the princes knew about the accounts of the Tabernacle [the opening verses of P’kuday] and what was still missing. And they came to add to it, for they brought the lazuli stones etc. and then the workers began creating the priestly vestments… (Rabbi Saul Loewenstamm [also Lowenstam] Binyan Ariel. Rabbi Loewenstam was born in 1717 in Rzeszow, Poland, in 1717. He was the grandson of the Chacham Tsvi, the noted Ashkenazi rabbi of Amsterdam. His first rabbinic position was in Lakacz, Hungary, followed by a position in Dubno, Lithuania, where he succeeded his father-in-law. In 1754, he participated in the Council of Four Lands, which oversaw Jewish life in Poland. When his father died in 1755, Rabbi Loewenstamm succeeded him as the chief Ashkenazi rabbi of Amsterdam. He continued in that position until his death in 1790, when he was succeeded by his son, Rabbi Jacob Moses Loewenstamm.

In 1768, he first published a commentary on the Torah entitled HeChatzer HaCadashah [The New Courtyard]. A decade later, in 1778, he issued Binyan Ariel [The Building of Ariel], which combines comments on the weekly Torah portions, comments on the 5 Megillot [Esther, Ruth, etc.], and notes on some Talmudic passages. His notes on the tractate Niddah were included in the Amsterdam edition of the Talmud that was published in 1765. Nearly 40 years after his death, a pamphlet entitled Halachah Le’Ma’aseh rav [Practical Halacha of the Rabbi] was issued which included his ruling about the kashrut of Dutch cheese.)

 

 

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Questions for P’kuday 5784 (Exodus 38:21-39:21)

 

  1. What was Ithamar’s role?
  2. Why the bookkeeping details? And why here?
  3. What was the difference between the standard shekel and the sanctuary shekel?
  4. What is the equivalent in pounds of a talent of gold?
  5. Which reading is to be preferred: “29 talents and 730 shekels” (JPS) or “29 talents or 730 shekels?” (Alter)
  6. How was the bronze used in the Tabernacle?
  7. How did they make gold thread? Where was it used?
  8. Why were the stones on the ephod called “stones of remembrance?”
  9. How big was the breastplate?
  10. Are we sure of the translations of the precious stones on the breastplate?
  11. What tribal names were inscribed on the breastplate stones? There is a rabbinic tradition that when answering questions the Urim and Tumim, which were inside of the breastplate, lit up letters of the inscribed stones. What is the problem with this tradition?

 

Questions for the Haftorah (I Kings 7:51-8:21)

 

  1. Why did Solomon wait until the completion of the Temple to bring in his father’s donations?
  2. What was the Feast and when was it celebrated?
  3. What seems problematic about 8:5?
  4. What was the function of the cherubim in the inner sanctuary? 
  5. What happened to the broken tablets, the copy of the Torah Moses placed beside the ark, as well as the remnants of the Manna and Aaron’s staff?
  6. What are the key take-aways from Solomon’s blessing?
Thu, March 28 2024 18 Adar II 5784